Hackers threaten to name 'rapists' if police don't act

The hacking group Anonymous has threatened to make public the identities of four boys accused of gang-raping a Canadian teenager who later killed herself after images of the attack went viral.

The group, notorious for its unique brand of justice, said it was responding to calls from those who felt incensed that police had failed to arrest or convict any of the four accused of raping Rehtaeh Parsons.

Rehtaeh, who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged attack in 2011, suffered almost two years of depression and bullying after pictures purporting to be of the incident were spread around her school, her family has said.

She hanged herself in the bathroom of her home in Nova Scotia on Thursday and died in hospital on Sunday evening.

No one was ever charged for the attack, with police saying the investigation was scuppered by a lack of evidence.

In a video statement, Anonymous said it had already identified two of the alleged attackers and was "confirming a third". The group said it was "only a matter of time" before they found the fourth.

In a message directed to Canadian Justice Minister Ross Landry, Anonymous said it was seeking justice for Rehtaeh and her family.

It said: "Our demands are simple – we want the Nova Scotian police to take immediate legal action against the individuals in question.

"We encourage you to act fast. If we were able to locate these boys within two hours, it will not be long before someone else finds them."

Although claiming it did "not approve of vigilante justice", the group said it would make the names of the alleged rapists public if it believed not enough was being done by the police.

Mr Landry, who reportedly met with Rehtaeh's mother yesterday, condemned the threats, saying: "Leah (Parsons) said she didn't want harm to come to the other young people, that her daughter would not have wanted that."

It is not the first time Anonymous has waded in on such a case.

In August last year, members of the hacking group released information relating to the rape of a young girl in Steubenville, Ohio.

Trent Mays (17) and Ma'lik Richmond (16) were eventually found guilty of the rape last month.